As I have said, it was a bit of a foggy night. Visibility was perhaps thirty or forty yards at ground level in the business district where I found myself walking. As I was still invisible, the homeless people on the streets did not accost me, and I felt I was making good time.

There were few cars parked at streetside there, and I had seen only one on the street. As I walked by one parked car, which I took for a derelict, I saw something reflected in the windshield.

I had dropped to the ground and rolled left, toward the nearest building, before it fully registered what I had seen: a man in black, with a sword, coming at me from out of the sky. I leapt to my feet, my invisibility shattered, in time to see him land. He turned toward me, smiling an evil smile, and for a moment I looked back at him.

He was in close-fitting black clothing, wielding a straight-bladed sword with a finger-loop in the hilt. He looked enough like the man who attacked me on Saturday to be his brother, or perhaps a cousin.

I saw him beginning a leap toward me, and I spoke the word and activated the Flight spell I had prepared. I ascended as fast as I could, flying up into a nearby alley to avoid being seen by anyone on the street.

Well, that was a mistake. I looked back to see my assailant bouncing back and forth across the alleyway, kicking off first from one wall, then the other, and he was keeping pace with me. Several times during the ascent he hacked at my feet with his sword, brushing the sole of my shoe once.

I had not prepared a fast Flight spell, but only one with a long duration, and so outrunning him seemed out of the question; however he definitely was leaping, not flying, so I still had hope of avoiding his blade.

Do you ask yourself why I fled? The last of his kind I had fought had nearly killed me, but my ring saved my life. This time I was nowhere near a Ley line; if he hit me in a vital area with his sword I would surely be dead. So I flew upward as fast as I could.

I cleared the top of the roof of the building; it was only ten stories, and its neighbor only nine. I continued up as fast as I could, but I saw that he was making his most powerful leap from the rooftop. This time he would hit me for sure...

I stopped, waiting for his approach, and I saw him smiling in triumph as he drew back his sword. At the last moment I dropped straight down, adding gravity to my spell's power, and though he hacked down as far as he could he couldn't quite reach me. Leaping, you see, he couldn't change direction until he hit something solid, but flying I could.

Now behind him, I ascended to an altitude where I could still see him, but he could not reach me; or so I thought. It was dark, but not so foggy up there as ground level, and I yet had a Mystic Vision spell in effect, making his defensive magic glow in my vision. He landed, turned, and shook his left fist at me. "Solomoriah," he yelled, "beware. You are meddling with things you do not understand! Stay away from the girl, do not pursue her case, or next time I will not fail to kill you!"

"Always have I sought vengeance against those who prey upon the innocent. I will not be turned so easily!" As I spoke these words, my attacker tossed his sword in the air, reversed his grip, and threw it at me. It flew at me, straight and true toward my heart, but I quickly dodged aside and let it pass.

It was now descending toward the roof of the shorter, neighboring building, and I turned to pursue it, thinking to leave him disarmed; then as I flew after it I realized it was probably a trap. Without looking behind me to confirm it, I dived down into the alleyway. His curses as he passed overhead were like music to me.

The shorter building was, in fact, an open parking structure, and I flew into the second tier from the top, dodging the numerous concrete pillars by narrow margins. What had seemed a slow Flight spell in open space now seemed faster than prudent in close quarters, but I did not dare slow down. I executed a hard right turn, rolled onto my back and flew out the front of the building.

In that position I could see my attacker leaping at me; he had already retrieved his sword. He seemed to know where I was, or somehow he could anticipate my movements; but as I had successfully dodged him twice I knew his power wasn't perfect.

As he approached I allowed myself to hover and released my most powerful Force Bolt at him. I don't know how much harm it did to him, but it knocked him back toward the parking structure. He hit a solid exterior pillar with a loud thump and then began to fall the seven or so stories to the ground. I lost sight of him in the low-lying fog.

Given a breather at last, I released my Kinetic Shield. It was as powerful as I could make it, and I hoped it would be strong enough. Then I began to fly straight for home.

Well, to make a long story shorter, I made it without further trouble. I found and followed the correct Ley lines to the junction where the permanent Tap decended to my house, and landed with time to spare on my Flight spell. I went around the house, casting spells of Closing on the exterior doors and windows, arriving at last in the master bedroom.

As I cast the Closing on the windows there, Mara sat up in the bed. "How did it go?"

"At the support group, it went well, but on the way home someone tried to kill me." I allowed her a moment of shock as I undressed. "In appearance he resembled the man from Saturday's attack, but this one threatened me if I didn't drop Kimberly's case."

I must have looked pretty bad, because Mara said, "You can tell me about it in the morning, my love."

I took a quick shower and collapsed into bed. Mara kissed me, and I said "Ah, all the doors and windows have Closing on them..." and I told her a word to dismiss it. She repeated the word for me, I think, but I was already asleep.

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